POKER PLAYERS from United States

Top 9

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary American Poker Players of all time. This list of famous American Poker Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Doyle Brunson (1933 - 2023)

With an HPI of 59.51, Doyle Brunson is the most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

Doyle Frank Brunson (August 10, 1933 – May 14, 2023) was an American poker player who played professionally for over 60 years. He was a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker. Brunson was the first player to win $1 million in poker tournaments. He won ten WSOP bracelets throughout his career, tied with Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel for third all time, behind Phil Hellmuth's seventeen and Phil Ivey's eleven. He is also one of only three players to have won the Main Event at the World Series of Poker multiple times, which he did in 1976 and 1977. He is also one of only three players, along with Bill Boyd and Loren Klein, to have won WSOP tournaments in four consecutive years. In addition, he is the first of six players to win both the WSOP Main Event and a World Poker Tour title. In January 2006, Bluff magazine voted Brunson the most influential force in the world of poker. On June 11, 2018, Brunson announced he was retiring from tournament poker that summer. That day, he entered the $10,000 2–7 Single Draw at the 2018 WSOP. He made the final table and finished in sixth place, earning $43,963.

2. Dan Harrington (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 52.60, Dan Harrington is the 2nd most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Dan Harrington (born December 6, 1945) is a professional poker player, best known for winning the Main Event at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tournament cashes in his poker career. He is also a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. Harrington chose his own nickname "Action Dan" even though he is known for being a tight conservative player. He is a distant cousin to both professional golfer Pádraig Harrington and former NFL quarterback Joey Harrington.

3. Dan Bilzerian (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 52.45, Dan Bilzerian is the 3rd most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Daniel Brandon Bilzerian (born December 7, 1980) is an American poker player, businessman, and social media influencer. He gained notability for his extravagant lifestyle and photo ops with scantily dressed female models on social media. He is the eldest son of businessman Paul Alec Bilzerian and the brother of poker player and writer Adam J. Bilzerian. His business ventures include Ignite International Brands Ltd., which sells electronic cigarettes, CBD oils, water bottles and vodka, among other products. He has also explored other avenues; he appeared in such films as The Equalizer, Cat Run 2 (both 2014), and Extraction (2015), and authored the autobiography The Setup (2021), which recounts his controversial life and lifestyle.

4. Johnny Moss (1907 - 1995)

With an HPI of 51.51, Johnny Moss is the 4th most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Johnny Moss (May 14, 1907 – December 16, 1995) was a gambler and professional poker player. He was the first winner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, at the time a cash game event in which he was awarded the title by the vote of his peers in 1970. He also twice won the current tournament format of the WSOP Main Event in 1971 and 1974. He was one of the charter inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

5. Phil Hellmuth (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 49.92, Phil Hellmuth is the 5th most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record seventeen World Series of Poker bracelets, the majority in no-limit hold'em. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and he is a 2007 inductee of the WSOP's Poker Hall of Fame. He is widely regarded as the greatest tournament player of all time.

6. Chris Ferguson (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 45.54, Chris Ferguson is the 6th most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Christopher Philip Ferguson (born April 11, 1963) is an American professional poker player. He has won six World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Ferguson is a computer scientist by training and education. On September 20, 2011, the U.S. Justice Department filed a motion to amend a civil complaint, complaining that Ferguson and three other directors of the poker website Full Tilt Poker were running a Ponzi scheme that paid out $444 million of customer money to themselves and the firm's owners.

7. Phil Ivey (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 45.21, Phil Ivey is the 7th most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. (born February 1, 1977) is an American professional poker player who has won eleven World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title, and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables. Ivey is regarded by numerous poker observers and contemporaries as the best all-around player in the world. In 2017, he was elected to the Poker Hall of Fame.

8. Tom Dwan (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 41.37, Tom Dwan is the 8th most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Thomas Dwan Jr. (born July 30, 1986) is an American professional poker player who played online in the highest-stakes No-Limit Texas hold 'em and Pot-Limit Omaha games, primarily on Full Tilt Poker under the screen name "durrrr". Dwan has won prize money in live poker tournaments and has appeared on NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship, the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons of Poker After Dark, the third, fourth, and fifth seasons of Full Tilt Poker's Million Dollar Cash Game, and the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth seasons of GSN's High Stakes Poker.

9. Joe Cada (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 33.32, Joe Cada is the 9th most famous American Poker Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Joseph Cada (born November 18, 1987) is an American professional poker player from Shelby Charter Township, Michigan, best known as the winner of the Main Event at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). By winning the 6,494-entrant Main Event at the age of 21, Cada surpassed Peter Eastgate as the youngest champion ever. Cada had two previous WSOP in the money finishes, both in 2009. Cada had been a regular online poker player for several years prior to winning the live WSOP event. He is primarily an online poker player, with more than $500,000 in online tournament winnings at present. As of November 2024, his total live tournament winnings exceed $14,700,000. Cada became a representative of Team PokerStars in 2009 in the weeks prior to becoming World Champion. On June 18, 2012, he lost heads up in the 2,811-entrant $1,500 No Limit Texas hold 'em event at the 2012 World Series of Poker. Cada is from a family of card enthusiasts, although his parents disapproved of his chosen profession. His agent dubbed him "The Kid" (although this is already Stu Ungar's nickname), and he has also taken on the role as a statesman of the profession in the media and political circles, where he is a proponent of legalization of gambling.